Ten Days Wonder
by Mala
Summary: There's no such thing as an easy mark. A story featuring Rex and Adriana. Ten chapters! COMPLETE!
1. Chapter One

Title: _"Ten Days Wonder" 1/?_  
Author: Mala  
E-mail: malisitayahoo.com  
Fandom: "One Life to Live"  
Rating/Classification: PG-13, Rex/Adriana (Rex/Lindsey, River/Adriana implied), angst, adult situations.  
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, but the story idea is totally mine!  
Summary: When you make bets on lives, on hearts, you're bound to lose. An AU of the early June 2004 "Rex solves his financial crisis" storyline.

* * *

The footsteps echoed along the corridor and he automatically tensed, rolling over gingerly on the bunk to face his visitor. Vega again? Garcia? McBain?  
  
_Worse._  
  
She wrapped her hands around the bars, watching him sit up. Her dark eyes were so much more cynical now. They saw everything, catalogued every wince, every creak of his muscles. "Hello, Rex," she greeted, softly, just the barest hint of a question in the words.  
  
"I ran into a door," he quipped, smoothing down his coveralls, lingering over his ribs. Underneath the cloth, his skin was dotted with bruises in various shades of yellow, blue, and green.  
  
"A door named Antonio?" she arched an eyebrow and that, too, was something new. Something she'd picked up from him.  
  
"Go figure. I tripped over the Thin Blue Line when they brought me down from booking." He gave her the non-answer. There was no question of filing police brutality charges. He'd have done the same if anybody had messed with Natty. Messing with a cop's cousin just meant there were more people around to administer the ass-kicking. He dragged a hand through his hair, asking, wearily, "Why are you here?"  
  
She cocked her head. "You really don't know?" The naive little furrow... he was almost relieved to see it was still a part of her. One thing he hadn't taken away.  
  
"No. I don't...I don't get it. Shouldn't you be off wearing a lace mantilla and saying 'I do' to River Carpenter?" His mouth twisted as he taunted her, and himself, with the image. It was less cruel than others. Than how he'd last seen her...unbuttoning her blouse and asking him to--"Why would you want to see me?" he choked out.  
  
She stared at him for the longest minute in the world. And it sucked the breath out of him more effectively than any punch to the gut. It made him remember...  
  
_Watching her face as she read a copy of 'Craze' and memorized whatever silly fashion tips she felt like she needed to know._  
  
And...  
  
_Dancing slow...his hands sliding up her shirt...stopping...only to have her take them and move them higher.  
_  
And...  
  
_"You wanted my money?" she demanded, face a mask of pain, of betrayal. "River was right, wasn't he? All you've wanted all along..."  
  
"No. No, that's not all..." He held out his hand to her, pleading with her to believe him...to believe in him just this once.  
  
"Oh,_ claro que si_...of course that's not all." Her fingers trembling as she worked the buttons of her blouse. "You want this, too, right? Isn't that what you told me the first time we met? That all guys are after one thing?" Standing bare in front of him. "Well, take it, Rex...take it. It's yours."  
  
"I...please...Baby..."_  
  
Please.  
  
He stared up at her, stricken. "Why?"  
  
"Love, Rex," she whispered. "Something you'll never understand."  
  
He waited till she was gone to roll over and hide his face in the threadbare pillow. When his shoulders shook, he blamed it on the chill from the cinderblocks that lined the basement. The dampness on his cheeks, too.  
  
He refused to blame love.  
  
She was wrong. He understood it way too well.

* * *

She threaded her way through the crowd on the Ultra-Violet dance floor. Follow the music. That tended to be the key with River. You had to follow the music or the musicians or somebody who had an iPod.  
  
The fingers circling around her wrist caught her off guard. Tight, twisted, she looked back at the blond man who was staring down at her hand with something like disgust in his eyes. The owner.  
  
"Either my door guys need glasses or you snuck in," he said, his voice clearly audible over the grinding rock soundtrack that was all ready giving her a headache.  
  
"I...I..." There were no Xs. No wristband. She shrugged, helplessly. "I'm not here to drink," she assured, feebly. "I just came to find someone."  
  
He snorted, hand traveling up to her elbow so he could expedite her trip towards the exit. "And I'm Samuel Adams."  
  
Her brows furrowed. "I thought River said your name was Rex."  
  
She had to be kidding. He stopped stock still on the edge of the dance floor, looking back at the girl's big, dark, eyes. Totally guileless. She really..._oh, man_. Rex shook his head, wishing he could go back and hide in his office for the next week, month, year. "My name_ is_ Rex," he muttered, guiding her to the bar. "And all I need is for the liquor license guys to come in and find you here. I all ready got shut down once this year."  
  
"Look...all I want to do is find River Carpenter. And Shannon McBain," she said the second name with a shudder. Like it was a synonym for "radioactive waste." And as he searched his memory banks for a face to go along with it...stopping on the clingy groupie who always hung around Riley and the boys...he couldn't necessarily fault the reaction.  
  
"You mean there's more of you crawling around? _Great_," he growled. One look over the crowd revealed that River and Shannon were sitting with a couple of the Midnight Logic guys. Shmoozing. An expert glance at the drinks near them told him they were sodas. Nothing to worry about. Well, nothing to worry about except the fact that Clingy Girl was all over the spiky-haired kid.  
  
And he had no intention of telling Adriana that.  
  
Of _course_ he knew who she was. He wasn't stupid. Every grifter in town knew about Dorian Lord's 30 million dollar trust fund baby. She was the Holy Grail of marks. Emphasis on 'holy.' Her simple white blouse buttoned up to her throat. Her skirt? Conservatively cut at the knees. She looked like a Catholic school girl. Hell, she probably _was_ a Catholic school girl. And if she'd walked in the front door, he was most definitely firing Drew and Reuben.  
  
She tried to fidget away from his insistent grip and look around the club as he pushed her to the bar and onto a stool.  
  
"Sit!" he ordered, shaking a finger at her. One of the same fingers that had been around her wrist. Suntanned, perhaps only a shade lighter than her own natural skin tone. He was one of those men whose skin grew darker as their hair grew paler. Like the creatures of summer who had always flocked to the beaches of Puerto Rico when she was growing up.  
  
He was awfully young for someone who owned a club. He looked barely old enough to be out of college. If he had gone at all. His dark eyes were fixed on her as if she had "_idiota_" tattooed on her forehead. David often looked at her the same way, but he was her confidante, her friend...she was rapidly coming to think of him like a father. Rex was anything but paternal.  
  
He moved around the bar, fiddling with bottles and glasses. "Here," he said, pushing something across to her. It was pink, with cherries in it. "A Shirley Temple," he informed, still looking at her as if she had some contagious disease.  
  
"I'm not going to cause any trouble," she protested, squirming under his scrutiny.  
  
"You're a walking _case_ of trouble, Kid," he assured, dryly.  
  
"Am I?" She laughed, playing with the swizzly stick in the glass. She certainly didn't feel like trouble. "Then why isn't River with me?" She didn't wait for him to answer. Not that he would. He didn't look like the advice-giving type. "Oh...right...I pushed him right back into Shannon's arms."  
  
Rex wondered, not for the first time, if this girl was the genuine article. "Wait...you're telling me...you dump the guy for fooling around on you... and now you're here trying to write another chapter in your teenage love story?" Sure, he'd had his share of bumps in the road with Jen...and with Lindsey...but come _on_.  
  
"I'm not _stupid_, okay?" she cried, defensively. "I love River."  
  
He rolled his eyes, leaning on the bar. "Look, Kid...what are you, sixteen? Everybody thinks they're in love when they're sixteen." He waved his hand, dismissively. "I thought I was in love with the prettiest girl in Michigan. Of course...she wouldn't give it up...so I 'fell in love' with somebody who would."  
  
"River...River's not like that!" she sputtered.  
  
"Got news for you, Babe. _All _guys are like that."  
  
She looked like he'd slapped her. Yeah, he'd hit the right note. And it looked like nobody had ever talked to her that way before. He almost...almost...felt sorry for being the one to do it. He made a point of never really being sorry for anything.  
  
Except maybe going into business with RJ Gannon.  
  
Because it was starting to look like he couldn't make his loan payments. And if he missed one ...well...serving underage girls was going to be the least of his problems.  
  
Rex was staring off somewhere over her shoulder, ignoring her now, and Adriana's stomach lurched with a mix of pity and hurt. Did he really think love didn't exist? What a sad life. But...but what if he was right? What if she'd lost her chance because of her promise to God, to her mother and David?  
  
"No...no, you're wrong," she denied, quietly. More to herself than to him.  
  
"Am I?" he mocked her earlier question, focusing on her once more. She was, after all, much prettier than RJ. And...and richer.  
  
The Holy Grail.  
  
The jackpot.  
  
His mouth went dry.  
  
And then he smiled at her. "Prove it," he dared, outrageously. "Prove to me that your love story is worth it."  
  
"All right!" She met the challenge in his eyes, raising her chin and giving him her best stubborn Cramer Woman glare. "I'll prove it."  
  
"Not tonight, though. Tonight, I want you outta my club."  
  
"Tomorrow, then?"  
  
"Sure. Meet me at Foxy Roxy's."  
  
He'd bet her inheritance that she was going to fail.  
  
She'd bet her heart that she was going to succeed. 


	2. Chapter Two

"Ten Days Wonder"_ -Two._

* * *

It was well past ten in the morning when she left Creme Brulee. "La Boulee," she reminded herself, aloud, with a giggle. David was a terrible influence. Between "Creme Brulee" and "La Blue Lei," she had ceased to think of her home by her mother's noble title. But it was, she knew, her _home_.  
  
Even awash in fighting noises. Kelly ... Blair...things she was probably better off not knowing. Things they wouldn't tell her anyhow. They wouldn't even notice she was gone. She had to admit she preferred it that way. As long as she wasn't out till all hours of the night, where Hetty would keep track and report back to Dorian, she was all right.  
  
Unlike Starr, she was the dependable child. The one who could be counted on.  
  
She had no idea why she was even bothering going to Foxy Roxy's. It wasn't like Roxy's wild, rude, son was going to remember the conversation they'd had last night at Ultra-Violet.  
  
In fact, she really didn't know why she'd remembered it herself.  
  
Her Shirley Temple had remained untouched as Rex ushered her out the door, stopping to tell his two hapless bouncers that she wasn't to be let back in after hours under_ any_ circumstances. "Stay out," he'd added, one arm pinning her to the brick wall. He'd been close enough that she could smell his cologne. Or maybe his skin. Something spicy and warm.  
  
He had held her there until some beautiful woman with blond hair walked by...and then he'd released her, not even bothering to glance back as he followed the older woman back inside.  
  
She'd come back through Angel Square still thinking of River and Shannon, wondering if he'd kicked them out, too. He'd probably just pretended to be sympathetic in order to get her out of the bar as quickly as possible. He probably hadn't given thought to River at all.  
  
The beauty salon, with its eye-gougingly bright pink interior, was empty when she opened the door. The little bell jingled, announcing her entry, and, for once, she was relieved that Roxanne didn't appear from the back room. It was still too early to face all that noise and color. Sometimes, she had to bite her tongue to keep from asking Roxy to slow down. She simply nodded along, instead, so the friendly woman wouldn't realize she only understood every fourth word.  
  
"Don't worry," River had told her once, "Most people only get a fourth of what Roxy says. It's not just you."  
  
She set her purse down on the counter, listening for noise from the depths of the salon. More often than not it sat closed, dark, while Roxanne worked over at the hotel. She opened up only for special customers or when Natalie could spare the hours to work a few shifts. Adriana was tempted to offer her help, too, but she knew Dorian would be absolutely horrified at the thought of it.  
  
Just as she would be horrified at Adriana coming to meet someone like Rex.  
  
"I didn't think you'd actually show." One of the styling chairs whirled around, and she jumped, startled. Rex was lounging in it, as plain as day.  
  
"_Madre mia!_ I...I didn't even see you there!" she gasped, flattening one palm over her heart to make sure it was still beating.  
  
"There's a lot you miss," he chuckled, rising out of his careless slouch. "Being so naive and all."  
  
"Are you always this mean?" she wondered, her jaw dropping despite her best efforts to stay poised and calm.  
  
"Not mean...just jaded." He smirked. "And honest. That's why you're here, right? So I can impart my world weary wisdom to you? Tell you what life's all about?"  
  
Hands on her hips, she stared at him, unwilling to allow him any more smug satisfaction at her expense. "No...I'm here to teach _you_ a few things," she snapped, doing Dorian and Blair and Kelly proud.  
  
He laughed, the sound heavy with sarcasm. "You? Teach _me_? I'd bet there isn't much to learn."  
  
"Oh yeah?" She was less offended by the assertion, more challenged. "I bet I can name at least three things."  
  
"At least three?" He scoffed. "You're on."  
  
She couldn't help but grin. "_Creo que no hablas espanol, muchacho_."  
  
"What?" He furrowed his brows, looking expectedly baffled.  
  
"One," she giggled, showing him the corresponding finger. "You can't speak Spanish."  
  
"That's cheating!" he cried, wounded. "It's obvious you'd beat me on languages, Kid!"  
  
"Sorry, Rex. You didn't set any rules," she pointed out, impishly. The poor _gringo_...he had no idea.  
  
"No wonder the Reverend's kid ran off. You're a menace!" he scowled.  
  
He looked sullen, like a little boy. Her peals of laughter only made it worse. "Salsa," she continued. "I bet you can't salsa."  
  
"Well...you're wrong _there_." And like the night before, his hand encircled her wrist. He pulled her close. And her breath caught.  
  
Her hands automatically came up to create distance, pressing against his chest. She felt his own sharp gasp. River was skinny. Up until now, he had been the most amazing thing she'd ever touched. Even with his shirt against her palms, she could tell Rex was built like someone in a movie or a magazine. Rock solid.  
  
He stared down at her, and she wondered how it was possible for a man to have such long eyelashes. How a man's eyes could be so dark, so deep, so beautiful. After a moment, he shook his head. "Maybe ...maybe the dancing should wait." His voice sounded tight, as if he couldn't quite speak.  
  
He let her go, stepped back, and she wrapped her arms around herself. "Wh- what about love?" she wondered. "And River?" Wasn't that why she'd come here? To hear his arguments on the subject?  
  
He was the one who laughed this time. "River's an idiot," he said, barely audible. "And love's a waste of time."  
  
"I still think you're wrong," she countered. Her voice was shaky and she didn't even know why. As if she'd run for miles and miles.  
  
"I know," he murmured, thickly. "And that's totally why you shouldn't be here."  
  
For the second time in twenty-four hours, he kicked her out of his domain. As the door shut and the bell tinkled, she watched him back away from the glass.  
  
She didn't know why she'd come here.  
  
She wasn't sure she wanted to know why she was leaving.

* * *

He knocked on the gallery door, insistent. "Lindsey! Lindsey, open this door right now!" he shouted.  
  
He'd run...he'd run from Angel Square. From Roxy's. All the way here. To the only place he could go.  
  
"Lindsey!"  
  
The door opened with a jerk against his knuckles. "What? Rex...what?" she demanded, irritably, pulling the ends of her robe around her. It served her right. Who slept in the middle of the day? "You're going to shout down the entire neighborhood."  
  
"Let 'em come." He shouldered inside, pulling her close.  
  
She was soft and sleep warm. All woman. Not a girl. When his mouth came crashing down on hers, she kissed back ferociously, all protests dying on his tongue.  
  
He could do this to her. He could have her. She would take and take and take. She wouldn't ask questions. She didn't want answers.  
  
She spread against the door for him, baring her throat to his kisses. Two tugs at her robe and she was naked. Her legs locked around his waist. He was inside her, driving deep, and nothing else mattered. Not money, not innocence. Nothing.  
  
Later, when they were tired out and tangled two feet from the bed, he could almost convince himself that he hadn't wanted anything of Adriana's except her trust fund. He could almost...almost...tell himself that he'd kept his eyes on the prize.  
  
Not her lips. Not her totally too-young lips.  
  
He kissed Lindsey again and again just to make sure. 


	3. Chapter Three

"Ten Days Wonder" - _Three._

* * *

She buried her confusion in flan. Several meals worth. Nearly a day later and she was on the lunch portion. It was her _madrina_'s cure-all and with good reason. Sugary, creamy, completely fattening. It was exactly the kind of things that the "Food Craze" section in her magazine said _not_ to eat.  
  
Of course, during late night kitchen raids, David frequently told her to ignore that section of the publication. "You're beautiful just the way you are. Here, have some chocolate sauce on that."  
  
He wasn't answering his cell phone and she, idly, wondered if he was making strange trips of his own to get back at her mother for hers last month.  
  
Since she had no David to talk to, she'd chosen the back booth of the diner to sulk in. And the flan.  
  
Flan made far more sense than boys. Or men.  
  
It didn't flirt with girls like Shannon.  
  
It didn't need her to wear a cute pair of hip-hugging clam-diggers and accent with an orange tube top.  
  
She made a mental note to tell David and Blair that their fashion editor  
  
needed to have a glossary at the end of her dumb Fifty Craze-y Tips column.  
  
"So...what's the third thing?"  
  
The seat across from her was suddenly filled, all broad shoulders and sprawled legs. Shaggy blond hair. Striped shirt.  
  
"What?" She stared at Rex, mystified, wondering how he'd managed to appear without making any noise..._again_.  
  
"Yesterday. At Roxy's. You said there were three things you could teach me Spanish, salsa, and...?" He drummed his fingertips on the table, impatiently, like twenty-eight or so hours hadn't passed. "What's the third?"  
  
She stared down at her dish of flan. Would it be completely out of line to throw the rest of it at him? She wasn't usually given to violent impulses. She wasn't usually given to impulses at all. "Are you insane?" she asked, genuinely curious.  
  
"Am I insane?" he echoed, staring off somewhere into the distance. After a minute, he conceded, "Yeah. _Si._ Totally _loco_."  
  
Rex wasn't quite sure how things had gone to Hell in a handbasket in such a short amount of time. RJ's loan, two nights ago, had been something worrying, but not unmanageable. Two nights ago, Adriana had been a possible mark, the just-in-case jackpot. Today, she was the lesser of two evils. On the sliding crime scale, charming a girl out of a couple million she wouldn't even miss was nothing compared to torching his mom's salon and collecting the insurance money. He was a lover, not an arsonist.  
  
Or, at least, he _had _been. Yesterday, at this time, he'd been in Lindsey's arms. Today, he didn't even have that. He had nothing except a matchbook from Capricorn in his back pocket. RJ and Lindsey had played him. They'd left him with nothing.  
  
Well, except for ten days. One little rich girl. And a third thing to learn.  
  
"So, tell me," he repeated. "What else have you got for me, Adriana?"  
  
She tilted her head, staring at him with those big, brown, barely legal eyes. He had no idea what she was seeing. Hopefully not the truth.  
  
Whatever it was, it made her shake her head and sigh. And, then, she smiled, her cheeks dimpling. She handed him a spoon from the side of her dessert bowl. "Here...have some flan. You'll feel better."  
  
As he took a bite of sweet, caramel-laced custard, and it melted on his tongue, he had to admit...she was right.  
  
He felt better all ready.  
  
He felt...focused.  
  
He knew what he had to do.  
  
Make her forget all about that moron River Carpenter...and keep remembering that all he wanted from her was cold, hard, cash.  
  
He could consider it payment for services rendered. They were both going to be better off. She'd be wiser and he'd be richer.  
  
"See...you're looking less _loco_ all ready. My _madrina_'s flan fixes everything," Adriana said, with a measure of pride.  
  
"A flan for all seasons, huh?" he quipped, grinning.  
  
"The flan also rises," she agreed, clapping a hand over her mouth to stifle the giggles. She'd had to read that at the convent school in San Juan. Oh, how she hated Hemingway. Flan, no doubt, would have improved his writing.  
  
"No, no..." Rex, despite himself, was laughing, too. And...God forbid ...singing some off-key tune. "She lies and says she's in love with it...can't find a better flan..."  
  
Adriana's magazine went sliding to the floor as she doubled over with mirth. Tears streamed down her cheeks as patrons turned to see who was making the terrible racket.  
  
"I...oh..._dios mio_..." she gasped out.  
  
Here was her third thing. She knew what she had to do.  
  
Teach this man to open up. To open his heart.  
  
"I think it's a foolproof flan," she murmured, fighting back the last of the amusement.  
  
"Me, too." His eyes met hers. He didn't even bother trying to keep from chuckling. "A totally foolproof flan. Best I've ever had."


	4. Chapter Four

"Ten Days Wonder" - _Four._

* * *

A week. He now had a little under a week to soften Adriana up enough to withdraw money from her fancy bank accounts on his behalf. It was a harder prospect than somebody with his God-given charms might think.  
  
As nice as it had been to share a bowl of custard and laugh until he couldn't breathe, it wasn't going to make his payments. Neither was walking her home. But he hadn't been able to resist. He'd done exactly that, scribbling his cell phone number down on a scrap of paper and handing it to her with a sheepish "call me."  
  
Jesus Christ. He was a kid again. Next thing you know, they were going to go on a double date with her cousin Starr and her twerpy little boyfriend. RJ would love that. RJ was convinced Rex couldn't play with the big kids. Maybe he was right.  
  
Adriana had turned from unlocking the front door, looking up at him with those eyes just like she had at Foxy Roxy's. So innocent. So...totally clueless about him. About anything.   
  
"Are you...are you all right, Rex?"  
  
"Sure. Fine." He'd laughed. He'd laughed knowing that going over to Lindsey's to do something about his sudden, raging, hard-on was no longer an option.   
  
So, he'd given her his number and gone straight to Capricorn to pound back some shots. He put them on RJ's tab.  
  
And now, waking up with the sun pouring through the windows, blinding him senseless along with the splitting headache, all he had was less than seven days, a hangover and...well...still that other problem.  
  
Roxy had left him a rambling voice-mail the night before...he'd half-listened when he stumbled in. Something about going up to AC to talk to a guy who knew a lot about "incensiaries" and making things go "kaboom!" He had to call her, remind her that incendiaries and "kaboom"s weren't generally a good idea. They didn't want to burn down all of Angel Square.  
  
Hell, he was trying not to burn anything down at all.  
  
Except Adriana Lord's defenses.  
  
He was going to drop by the diner later, try and see her again.  
  
Because he only had a week or so.  
  
Not because he wanted to hear her laugh at his singing again.  
  
Not because he wanted her to stare at him like he was nice and sweet and funny and worth her time.  
  
Not because she made him want to believe it...

* * *

Her _madrina_ was really her_ tia_. Her father was still dead, although he'd left her behind a 100 million dollar blood-soaked legacy and a half- brother somewhere. And River was probably locked away with Shannon because she hadn't seen either of them in days.  
  
Life had been so much simpler before her _quinceanera_...when her biggest problem had been staying awake in church and avoiding teasing from the boys in the _barrio_. Never in a thousand years had she thought her whole life would be so different, so out of control.  
  
She lived in a big house with a silly name, she had so many new relatives she had to take notes to keep them straight, and she hadn't even graduated high school yet.  
  
Adriana drifted down the stairs, shaking her head. Maybe she was just over-analytical? Maybe you weren't supposed to question these things? In Llanview, the impossible seemed to happened on a daily basis...like Rex's ability to appear from thin air.  
  
Or River appearing on the doorstep just as she opened the door.  
  
The smile on her face was immediate, as was the warm glow inside her. He looked tired, she thought, and sheepish as he scuffed his shoes on the mat.  
  
"Uh...hi..." he stammered, running a hand through his hair and making it stand up even more than usual. "How've you been?"  
  
_How've you been?_ Her smile wavered just the tiniest bit. He kissed Shannon, swore he'd do anything to earn her forgiveness for it, spent a week not calling her, and now he was making awkward small talk?   
  
"Oh, I've been wonderful!" she said, crossly, before she could stop herself. "I just found out that Manuel, my father, was really Carlotta's brother...so I'm related to the Vegas by blood. Nobody's ever home here except for Jack and Hetty. Starr's boyfriend calls more than you do. I overheard Dorian accusing David of fathering Kelly's baby...but she might have been joking, I still can't tell sometimes...and Rex says all you want from me is sex."  
  
"What?" River's jaw dropped. He looked confused. But, like most teenage boys, he latched onto the important word in her impromptu tirade. "Sex?" And he rhymed, quickly, "Rex? Why are you talking about sex with Rex?"  
  
_Dios._ She hadn't been talking about sex with Rex. At least not _that_ way...but now she was certainly thinking about it. She shook her head, trying to erase the memory of him pulling her close, the way he grabbed her wrist. His eyes. His chest. Him suggestively licking flan off a spoon.   
  
Sex with Rex..._madre de dios!_  
  
She clutched the edge of the door. "I came to Ultra-Violet the other night looking for you. Rex was being kind, giving me advice."  
  
River snorted, looking at her like she was very young and very stupid. "Rex Balsom is never 'kind', Adriana. He was probably playing you. He's a jerk!"  
  
"You would certainly know, wouldn't you?" she snapped, wounded. "Are you 'playing' me or are you 'playing' Shannon McBain?"  
  
She was definitely becoming a true Cramer woman. David would be proud of her.   
  
"I'm not playing you, Adriana! I love you," River reminded. "I...I want to marry you. Everybody knows all Rex is after is money. He probably found out you're worth a kajillion bucks."  
  
"Stop it!" The happy glow at seeing him, at his rumpled clothes and his hair and his gentle smile, was rapidly turning into a slow burning annoyance. "Rex and I are friends...barely...we only just met!" She wondered if she could accidentally swing the door into River's nose. "I was so glad to see you here. Don't ruin it, please."  
  
"That's...that's what I wanted to tell you, Adriana," River replied, his voice rising and his hand coming up to cover hers. "Don't ruin things. Don't ruin us," he pleaded. "When Shannon said she saw you with Rex at Foxy Roxy's...I just had to come over and see you. I had to tell you I loved you and to believe in me."  
  
"What?" Her jaw dropped. And, like him, she picked out the important word. "You only came here because Shannon told you I was with someone else? You listened to Shannon?"  
  
Too late, River realized his mistake. "No...Adriana...wait..."  
  
She swung the door shut as hard as possible and stumbled backwards.  
  
There were things...there were things she most definitely would continue to question.  
  
Her taste in men.  
  
Her sanity.  
  
And why the thought of licking flan off of Rex's skin was the only thing that kept her from bursting into tears.

* * *


	5. Chapter Five

"Ten Days Wonder" - _Five._

* * *

The lights were low, the club closed for the afternoon, when she tried the front door. She hoped that Rex's banishment of her had only applied to times it was actually open for business.  
  
As she let herself in, peering around to make sure that his poor bouncers were nowhere to be found, the sounds of rhythmic salsa drifted across the darkened main room. None of that grinding industrial rock that River liked so much and insisted she listen to. Yerba Buena. Doing one of her favorite songs. Imagine that...Rex hadn't been lying. Perhaps he _did_ know how to dance.  
  
And if he wasn't lying about that...maybe he was right. Maybe all River had wanted from her was one thing...and only the threat of her giving it to somebody else had made him come running back to her.  
  
She had to know.  
  
Was her love story worth it?  
  
Noise came from the back tables...Rex's voice as he spoke on the phone, and she ducked behind the wall of monitors, trying not to listen in, letting the drum beat take her some place else.  
  
"Roxy...Mom...I don't think..._no_. Fine. Fine, it's still on. Look, I'll talk to you later, okay? Stay away from the ponies."  
  
He sighed, ending the call with his thumb and sliding the flat phone back into his pocket. He didn't blame Roxanne for the back-up plan. Pretty much nobody had faith in his abilities to pull anything off. Although, Jen seemed to think he was capable of great things. Funny how she could shine his halo _now _but had spent their whole relationship thinking he was scum.  
  
Of course, run-ins with his ex were the last thing on his mind. He'd long since passed that exit on the Downward Spiral highway. There really were some things more important than love. Money. Survival. Michigan State football.  
  
Adriana.  
  
As he rounded the bank of video screens, there she was. He had no idea how she'd gotten in again. And as he watched her...he suddenly didn't care.  
  
She was dancing to some new tracks he was checking out. Completely unaware of anything except the way her hips swayed from side to side. Her arms moved up and down in some kind of complicated swirl. And her feet...he had no idea what they were doing. Her conservative skirt fanned out around her and it was automatically the most indecent piece of clothing ever invented. No...no, he changed his mind. Her simple white shirt, unbuttoned to the third button, just barely showing him what went beyond her collarbone ...that...that was seriously dirty.  
  
And then she turned towards him and held out her hand.  
  
She'd lost track of when he'd stopped talking on the phone and when he'd begun watching her, but it felt only natural to reach out, to murmur, impishly, "How about that dance?"  
  
He looked startled by the question, startled by her presence, but he took her fingers in his, letting her tug him into position.  
  
"Second thing," she reminded. "Show me I don't have to teach you..."  
  
"I still haven't taught _you_ anything," he pointed out as he put one hand, lightly, on her hip and the other on her shoulder. "Wasn't I supposed to warn you that all men are losers or something?"  
  
"Later..." and she urged him to move with her.  
  
Was his grip too firm? Was he administering the Bad Touch? Rex tried to keep his touch impersonal...but salsa wasn't that waltz crap where you had a foot between you. He could practically feel her heartbeat and every breath she took.  
  
He followed her, toe to toe, and when she bent back, he flowed with her. To his credit, he didn't glance down to make sure his steps were right. He couldn't have even if he tried...because he couldn't stop looking at her. She was in her element...and he was in it with her. She was sharing this, like she'd shared her problems and her dessert and her laugh.  
  
He was tentative at first and then she felt him relax, falling into the music, into the rhythm. His chest was hard where hers was soft, his arms secure enough to hold her, she couldn't deny that he was accomplished at this. She couldn't deny that they _fit_.  
  
"You're...you're really good," she whispered as the playful song faded into something slower.  
  
"You don't know the half of it." It was time for him to pull away. But he was stalling. Did she have any idea that dancing like this was just an opening act for getting naked? Was she really that naive?  
  
He had to know.  
  
He tilted his head, gazing down at her as his fingertips flirted with the edges of her blouse. He waited for her to slap him. To move out of range of his lips, which were suddenly hovering just a few inches above hers. When that didn't happen, his palms continued the progression, sliding upwards beneath the loose cloth, just above her waist _Damn_. Still no slap. And he couldn't move. He couldn't go farther, he couldn't go back.  
  
"Adriana..." he pleaded.  
  
She covered his fingers with her own and moved them higher.

She couldn't explain why. It felt...good. Hot. But not a burn. No...it was like that day where she and River had nearly...and with only simple touching. How was that even possible? "Rex...?" How did she even ask?  
  
Oh. Oh, Man. She...she had no clue what kind of power she had. She didn't even know what she was asking with that little breathless gasp of his name. She was absolutely, 100%, virginal...and he was going to kiss her. If he didn't push her away. So, he pushed. He whispered something too harsh for her virgin ears and virgin eyes and virgin everything else and put her away from him, back against the wall of monitors.  
  
"Did you...did you need something from me? Is that why you're here?" he demanded, hoping she couldn't hear how out of breath he was...how totally off balance.  
  
Adriana tried to find the proper words, English ones. They still escaped her. And she was glad for the screens behind her because they held her up.  
  
Yes...yes, she'd needed something from him.  
  
An answer.  
  
And she'd received it.  
  
River Carpenter was a boy.  
  
Rex Balsom was a man.  
  
What they wanted was completely different.  
  
When she was with them, what _she_ wanted was different, too.  
  
"Adriana..." Rex reached out and, at the last second, realized what the Hell he was doing and yanked his hand back.  
  
She nodded, understanding, now, what that look in his eyes meant.  
  
"I know...I know...I should leave."

* * *


	6. Chapter Six

"Ten Days Wonder" - _Six._

* * *

"You need more chocolate sauce on that," David directed, waving the bottle of Hershey's. "_Way_ more."  
  
"Hmmm?" She stared down at the ice cream pooling in the dish. The cherry was beginning to slide off the mountain of whipped cream. "Oh. Sure." She took the bottle, squirting out a healthy serving of syrup, drizzling the vanilla creation with designs.  
  
One swirl looked like the letter 'R.'  
  
"You've been distracted all night." David slouched on the couch, checking the hall doors before lifting his feet up on the coffee table. "Don't tell me you've been mooning over River again." He scowled when she didn't reply right away. "Don't tell me you've gone and _slept _with him...because your mother and I will _kill _you."  
  
"No!" she assured, quickly, even as he continued, "Scratch that...we'll kill him and we'll ground you for life...wait...no...maybe just until you're forty--"  
  
"David! Please! I'm not...I haven't...not with _anybody_!" she interrupted, blushing. If sleeping with River would get him dead and her grounded till she was forty...what would they do if she...if she had Sex With Rex?  
  
She nearly choked on a spoonful of ice cream thinking about it.  
  
The sex, not the potential punishment.  
  
_Dios._ Fifteen years of good Catholic upbringing and barely one year in public school had made her give in to lust and temptation.  
  
And, as much as she loved sundaes and these late night chats, nothing beat Carlotta's flan.  
  
David "ahem"ed, reminding her that he was still waiting for her to tell him what was going on. Apparently, he wasn't going to let her off the hook until she did.  
  
So, she did what any self-respecting daughter would do.  
  
She lied.  
  
"Everything's fine! There is nothing new in my life! Well...except for my father." She made a curious face. "Have you found out anything more?"  
  
Just as she expected, the subject change worked. Focus shifted, David leaned forward, gesturing with his spoon. "No...no, I haven't heard anything new... but Dorian went off on some spa trip and I don't think she's really going to any spa...so, I put a GPS locator in a diamond bracelet and gave it to her..."  
  
She settled back into the sofa cushions, letting him ramble excitedly about the happenings in _his_ life, and finished her ice cream.   
  
She saved the chocolate 'R' for last.

* * *

Five days. Five days and the weenie roast at Foxy Roxy's was set for tomorrow. Everything would be fine. Everything would go off without a hitch. And even if it didn't, he could still count on Adriana.  
  
"On her money," he corrected out loud, "I can count on her _money_."  
  
He was going to keep repeating that. As many times as it took to remind him. Eyes on the prize. Keeping Ultra-Violet, opening his new place. Having the freedom to tell RJ and Lindsey they could go straight to Hell. That was what he wanted. That was _all _he wanted.  
  
Adriana was a nice girl. Nice girls weren't meant for guys like him. Plus, there was the whole side benefit of getting his ass kicked by folks uptown _and_ in Angel Square. Possibly getting arrested. On the whole, flirting cash out of her was safer than falling in love with her.  
  
Not that he was doing that.  
  
No.  
  
No way.  
  
He slumped against the bar, covering his face with his palm. "Just. Her. Money," he muttered, emphatically, through his fingers.  
  
"I knew it. I knew it, you bastard."  
  
His hand dropped, curled into an automatic fist. And his heart did the same.  
  
He was definitely firing Reuben and Drew. He'd let RJ buy the new locks.  
  
Because River Carpenter was standing in the doorway, looking like he'd just hit the jackpot.

* * *


	7. Chapter Seven

"Ten Days Wonder" - _Seven._

_Thanks to everyone who has been reading and leaving comments! I'm so glad you're enjoying this story. When I started writing it, I had NO idea that they would actually start teasing us with Rex/Adriana on the show. Aren't John-Paul and Melissa GREAT together? _

* * *

Well. So. River knew what he was up to. Or...he thought he knew. Which was probably worse.  
  
Rex had calculated the time it would take to chase the kid down and beat the living hell out of him...and then he'd realized that punching River in the face wouldn't change anything. He would still be the asshole. He would still be the guy who'd deliberately set out to con Adriana just because he could. Except with bruised knuckles.  
  
So, some forty-five minutes later, he was still sitting against the bar, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Kind of cheerfully, actually, seeing as he was on his third gin and tonic.  
  
That was when he heard the sirens in the distance. Growing closer. Not police sirens, but the foghorn echo of fire trucks.  
  
He wasn't completely stupid, not nearly drunk enough. And he knew his luck.  
  
Not only that, he knew Roxy.  
  
When he came out the back door, into the alley, he could see the thick columns of smoke rising from the neighborhood a few blocks away.  
  
Something in Angel Square was burning.  
  
By the time he got to the statue in the park, he could see it wasn't Foxy Roxy's. No. It was worse. The Community Center. People were running every which way. Blair Cramer was sobbing, repeating something over and over about Starr being inside. Starr...Adriana's cousin Starr.  
  
"Mom...Mom, what the Hell have you done?" he muttered, trying to stay standing despite the sudden urge to pass out. Had Natty noticed the bright red, totally obvious, gas cans at the salon? Had Roxy moved them? Had Barry set fire to the wrong place figuring insurance money was insurance money?  
  
He stumbled, lowering his head and trying to take deep breaths. Since the air was filling with ashes, all he succeeded in doing was coughing. Should he call 911? No...no, that would be stupid...the fire engines were all ready there. "_Shitshitshit_," he hissed, dragging both hands through his hair. He wheeled around, heading away from the fire, back towards the club. "Shit!"  
  
The voice caught up to him, and then the hand. "Rex...?"  
  
She'd seen the flames from the diner, coming out to see what was happening as Rex stormed past in a blur of blond and blue. "Rex, are you okay?" she wondered, as he stopped, glanced back at her like he almost didn't recognize her.  
  
"What?" The haze seemed to lift a little from his eyes. "Adriana. Why...why are you here?" Why was she talking to him? When he asked her that, she simply looked at him like he was crazy.  
  
"Rex, the community center is on fire. Are you hurt?"  
  
"No...no, I'm not hurt...and you shouldn't care..." He threw off her arm and kept going...all the way back to Ultra-Violet. The fire would be out soon. You could count on the Llanview fire squad and the cops. They'd be heroes. No big deal.  
  
She struggled to keep up with him, following him into the depths of the club, ignoring the banishment rule once again. "Rex...I don't understand ... what's wrong?"  
  
It had been almost an entire day since they'd seen one another. She'd slept in after the ice cream talk with David and then gone over to the diner to work on one of her summer reading assignments and help out her _madrina_ during the evening shift.  
  
Had so much really changed since the last time they spoke? Since he'd woken her up inside with just the touch of his hand?  
  
"'What's wrong'?" Rex echoed, picking up his neglected fourth cocktail and taking a healthy swig. "You mean...besides my entire life going up in smoke? And River running off to you and telling you what a mean, bad, man I am?"  
  
Adriana wasn't entirely sure that something hadn't happened. Maybe he'd fallen and hit his head? "River?" she wondered, speaking slowly, as if he was a child. "What do you mean about River?"  
  
"Oh, don't play innocent with me!" he cried, slamming down the glass. "Wait...you're not _playing_," he corrected himself. "You really _are_ this innocent. And I'm the jerk who tried to take advantage of you. I get it. Really. Got the message loud and clear. The plan to grab your trust fund is officially canceled."  
  
The moment he said it, he knew.  
  
He wasn't completely stupid, not nearly drunk enough. He knew his luck. And he knew her eyes.  
  
River hadn't had the time to get to her.  
  
"You wanted my money?" she repeated, confused. And then not confused. It... it made sense. It did. Why _would_ someone like Rex be so kind to her? Right? Men like him wanted women like Lindsey Rappaport, like her daughter Jen. Not naive schoolgirls. Of course. She had nothing else to offer him. "River was right, wasn't he? All you've wanted all along..."  
  
_No._ Rex shook his head, violently. "No. No, that's not all..." he started, reaching out to her, trying to make her understand. "Adriana, it's more than that. Let me explain..." He didn't know how, but he had to...  
  
She shrugged away his hand, interrupting, "Oh, _claro que si_...of course that's not all!" Her fingers trembled as she worked the buttons of her blouse. "You want this, too, right? Isn't that what you told me the first time we met? That all guys are after one thing?" Her bra came unhooked easily. She tossed both items at his feet and stood bare in front of him, daring him, "Well, take it, Rex ...take it. It's yours."  
  
"I...please...Baby..." He closed his eyes. He wasn't going to look. He couldn't.  
  
"Don't 'Baby' me!" she yelped, as the tears filled her eyes. And some of the anger turned to shame. She crossed her arms over her chest, tried to cover herself. "I'm not your 'Baby'...I'm not even your _friend_."  
  
"That's not true! You have no idea what you are to me." And he had no idea either. He couldn't put it into words if he tried.  
  
"See...you don't even want me." She felt so utterly stupid thinking that, somehow, Rex could have started to care for her the way she'd begun to care for him. Thinking that one conversation in a bar could be the beginning of anything special. "I should have known...I'm not blond, I'm not mature ...I'm not pretty..."  
  
"You're beautiful," he whispered, cutting her off. Looking. Seeing. Swallowing his tongue. It tasted like gin...and the promise of Hell. "You're drop-dead gorgeous."  
  
"Prove it, then," she asked, echoing that challenge that seemed like so long ago. Echoing...but leaving out one word. The word that didn't apply. "Prove to me your story is worth it."  
  
He started by picking up her discarded clothes and closing the space between them. "Here." And as she clutched her things, he took her face in his hands and kissed the top of her head. "I am so sorry, Adriana. So...sorry."  
  
"Not sorry enough. I'm not convinced." And she gave in to the impulse that had been haunting her for days. Possibly since they first met. Maybe even long before. She licked his jaw, tasted the tart-salt of his skin, the hint of liquor at the corner of his mouth. And then she kissed him.  
  
It was better than her _madrina_'s flan.  
  
He tried to stand still. He tried not to register the softness of her breasts pressing against him or way her lips moved, so butterfly light, along the side of his face. Her kiss was something he couldn't ignore. Not something apologetic and platonic. Her mouth was sweet and sharp and bold. Not innocent. Not naive at all.  
  
Oh, Man. Maybe he was the one who'd been conned.  
  
Maybe he was the easy mark.  
  
He gasped her name, wanting desperately to say something... to kiss her back...to drink from the Holy Grail.  
  
"Adriana? Adriana, are you here...?"  
  
The kiss was the most painfully amazing thing he'd ever felt in his life. The arms pulling him off of her and the fist flying into his face...? Was just painful.  
  
"Antonio! Stop!" Adriana cried, struggling into her bra and shirt as he got up off the floor, rubbing his jaw. "_Por favor_..."  
  
Oh, great, he thought, as she and her cousin went off arguing, rapidly, in Spanish. Wonderful. River had called the cops. And not just any cops, but the most law-abiding boys in town. Vega and McBain. 'Law-abiding' meaning they were going to pretend they were concerned civilians when they broke his legs.  
  
"Rex Balsom...you're under arrest for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, on suspicion of statutory rape."  
  
"While you're at it, ask me about being an accessory to arson before the fact," he murmured, wearily.  
  
The cuffs were slapped on, none-too-gently.  
  
"Duly noted, Mr. Balsom. Thank you for being so helpful." John McBain was not amused, just sarcastic. No wonder he and Natalie couldn't hook up. "However, in case you forgot, you do have the right to remain silent..." and as he continued to rattle off the Miranda rights, Rex tuned him out, staring across the room at where Adriana was frantically gesturing as she spoke to Antonio.  
  
What was she saying? "Lock him up and throw away the key?"  
  
She'd buttoned her blouse unevenly. She knew that. Her haste to put it on had been clumsier than her haste to remove it. But Antonio kept his eyes averted as he used words like "_cabron_" and "_chingada_" and "_mierda_", things his _mami_ would never want him saying in front of her.  
  
"Please," she urged again, in English, "please 'Tonio, it's not what you think."  
  
"It doesn't matter what I think or what you think. You're sixteen," he reminded, voice as cold with anger as his eyes were hot. "You're sixteen and Balsom is scum."  
  
_"I thought I was in love with the prettiest girl in Michigan. Of course ...she wouldn't give it up...so I 'fell in love' with somebody who would...Got news for you, Babe. All guys are like that."_  
  
She couldn't disagree, could she? Rex was scum. He'd admitted as much himself. He'd only spoken to her at Ultra-Violet out of courtesy and then greed.  
  
But had he danced with her out of greed?  
  
Had he laughed, pretending the last spoonful of flan was an airplane and her mouth the hangar, out of courtesy?  
  
She glanced over to where John was finishing up his arrest, caught Rex's gaze. There was no answer there. No acknowledgment. Simply resignation.  
  
"All right," she told Antonio. "Fine. Take him."  
  
Out of hope.

* * *


	8. Chapter Eight

"Ten Days Wonder" - _Eight._

* * *

The gate to the cell block opened and there was the muted sound of a woman talking to Officer O'Reily, of someone approaching. He raised his head a few inches off the bunk, even though he knew there was no way Adriana would come back. Not after the way everything had gone down.  
  
Maybe it was Roxy. The night before, he'd used his one phone call to call and tell her to keep quiet, in the hopes that nobody would remember seeing damning evidence sitting smack dab in the middle of her salon.  
  
The odds of Roxy being able to keep quiet about _anything _were slim.  
  
They were probably going to wind up in adjoining cells.  
  
No, it wasn't his mother.  
  
Evangeline Williamson was staring at him through the bars, her dark eyes huge and sympathetic and not at all the ones he wanted to see. "You'll be released within the hour," she said, her voice as crisp and perfectly cut as her brown business suit. "A preliminary hearing has been set for Tuesday."  
  
"Why would you help me? RJ's going to hate this." He swung his feet onto the floor, trying to hide the wince of pain as his ribs felt the pull.  
  
"Precisely _because _he's going to hate it." Evangeline laughed, but there was no humor in it. "I don't like the game he played with you, Rex. If he hadn't put such stringent conditions on the loan, you might not have gotten so desperate."  
  
"Desperate enough to commit statutory rape?" The words left a bad taste in his mouth. Or maybe it was the hangover from the gin. Cottony and sour.  
  
She didn't even blink. "No...to be a party to arson. Adriana Colon Lord gave a statement last night clearing you of all suspicion on the other charges. However, your own words to Detective McBain can't be so easily dismissed."  
  
"Wait." He shook his head, trying to clear it of the white noise and the pounding. "Adriana made them drop the charges?"  
  
"She said you didn't touch her, that you made no overtures. That you were trying to let her down easy from a crush when Antonio and John walked in and River Carpenter called them out of jealousy."  
  
"And they believed her?" Rex couldn't help but chuckle. Wow, that was a lousy pack of lies. Well, for the most part.  
  
"They believed David Vickers. He accompanied her to the station as her guardian and he was _furious_." A slight smile betrayed Evangeline's amusement. "Apparently, he yelled at her in front of the entire squad room and grounded her for life. I'm surprised you didn't hear it."  
  
No, he hadn't heard anything. After Adriana's visit, there had been nothing but the night sounds of a county jail and the beginnings of a killer headache.  
  
"What about the fire? Was anybody hurt?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing serious. Just scrapes and bruises, smoke inhalation. They think the fire started in a store room, thanks to a lit cigarette, some old rags, and gasoline. Did you put the gas in the community center?"  
  
"No." That, at least, he could be honest about. "I have no idea how it got there."  
  
"Then why did you suggest to Detective McBain that the fire was your fault?"  
  
"I'd been drinking. I was upset about what happened with Adriana. I probably would've admitted to being on the grassy knoll next. I didn't really mean it," he shrugged.  
  
Another lousy pack of lies. For the most part. And Evangeline knew it. But she was going to use it to defend him and even the score with RJ. He had to give her points for her skewed sense of justice. "All right," she said, moving back from the cell. "I'll go see if the paperwork for your release has gone through."  
  
"Evangeline...?" Her name was out before he could catch himself.  
  
"Yes, Rex?" She looked back at him, cool and collected, the consummate professional.  
  
"Did she...did Adriana...did you read her statement?" he asked, haltingly. He had to stare at the floor, count the cracks in the concrete, because he couldn't stand to see his stupidity reflected on her face.  
  
"It was the first thing I did after I told them I was your representation." After a few moments, realizing he wasn't going to come out and ask anything else, she sighed. "When they asked her if she was absolutely sure you hadn't done anything indecent..." Evangeline broke off for a moment, shaking her head. Maybe she was remembering being a teenager. Whatever it was, she shrugged it off and continued, "She told them it wasn't your fault that she fell for you. She said it was hers... because she was stupid."  
  
"She's...she's not, you know." Rex buried his face in his hands, shoulders shaking with something too dark to be mirth. "She's not stupid at all."  
  
"And neither are you." Evangeline came back to the bars for a moment, her voice soft, compassionate. "You picked the right girl, Rex."  
  
"Yeah. Biggest bank account in Pennsylvania," he laughed, harshly.  
  
"No. The biggest heart."

* * *


	9. Chapter Nine

"Ten Days Wonder" - _Nine._

* * *

"I swear to God, if I catch you EVER leaving La Boulee again, I'm going to chain you to a wall and set twenty-four hour guards on you! I cannot _believe_ you would associate with a flea-ridden piece of trash like Rex Balsom. I thought you were a _nice_ girl...oh my God, maybe it's my influence? Maybe I'm a bad influence? That's it...no more free issues of 'Craze' for you!"  
  
David had been going on in this fashion for hours. Adriana was actually a little surprised, although dulled senseless from all the yelling, because this was the first time she'd heard him call the mansion by the proper name. And the first time he'd ever really taken her to task.  
  
He was pretty serious about her mother. And about her. It was an oddly happy thought. He really considered himself family.  
  
"Well. What do you have to say for yourself?" he demanded, flopping onto the sofa across from her, apparently out of steam. For the moment.  
  
He'd taken an eight hour break--allowing her to go up to bed--so no doubt after a suitable amount of re-charge time, he would start again. And then he would tell Dorian the moment she got home and it would all begin once more. And..._ay_, no...she didn't want to think about what would happen when Antonio told her _madrina_.  
  
Amidst the hustle and bustle of the police station and David's vocal disappointment in her, she had barely had a chance to process what had happened.  
  
How beaten, broken, Rex had looked in that cell.  
  
Not just from the well-placed "door."  
  
Her sleep had been plagued with images of him...with the memory of his chaste kiss and her bold one. _"Please...Baby..."_ 'Please', he kept saying in her mind. 'Please forgive me. I'm sorry.'  
  
Of course, the real Rex didn't even know what forgiveness meant.  
  
"Adriana? I'm waiting..." David was not going to let her off the hook.  
  
So, she told him the truth. The most relevant part first.  
  
"I love you, Dad. I'm...I'm so glad you're here."  
  
"Well, thank you, I'm glad I'm here, too." And then the light seemed to dawn. He blinked, staring at her, thunderstruck. "Did you just call me 'Dad'?"  
  
"I did." She lowered her head, trying to hide the embarrassed blush.  
  
"Oh." He nodded, accepting her confirmation as if they were talking about vanilla versus chocolate. "Okay, then. Well, I love you, too," he said, simply. "But you're still in trouble, Young Lady."  
  
"I know." She offered him a weak smile. "Believe me, I know I'm in trouble. Because...I think I love Rex, too."  
  
"You love Rex?" David repeated, the thunderstruck expression returning. Along with some revulsion. "Hopefully not the same way you love me...because that would be disturbing."  
  
"No...no, not the same way," she assured, knotting her hands in her lap. No, what she felt for Rex was...indescribable. Disappointment, hurt, sadness... longing, need, and the thought that she hadn't started really living until eight days ago. It was rising to temper and calming down. It was knowing that he would never look twice at Shannon McBain.  
  
"Adriana...I never thought I'd say this..." David smiled, wryly, "but River's actually a good kid. What in the world would you see in someone like Rex?"  
  
"River's a good kid," she agreed, quietly. "Rex is an adult. And, no, he's not so good. He's...just a man." And that was enough. Almost enough.  
  
"You're sixteen, Adriana. You can't possibly know how you feel. Last month you still wanted to marry River and you were convinced you'd still be in love when you turned eighteen."  
  
"How old were you when you fell in love?" she challenged.  
  
"Fo--" His current age was on the tip of his tongue. She knew that. And he thought better of it. "Old enough to know better," he said, instead.  
  
She laughed, shrugging helplessly. "I'm old enough to know better, too."  
  
"Scoot over." David got up and moved around the coffee table, sitting down beside her as she complied. "Look at us, huh?" he murmured, putting an arm around her and squeezing affectionately. "I get myself a daughter and she's all ready growing up. Too fast."  
  
Slowly, tentatively, she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Don't worry... I still need you around."  
  
"I know you do! And I plan to _be_ around for a very long time." David was solid, secure, safe. His voice was hoarse from shouting at her. "Call me 'Dad' again, would you?" The question was barely above a whisper. And not because of his throat.  
  
"Dad." She giggled. Liking the sound of it. "I didn't know you were forty- two."  
  
"I'm not 42!" he gasped, appalled. "I was going to say I was thirty-five."  
  
"Thirty-five doesn't begin with an 'f'," she pointed out.  
  
"I have a speech impediment!" he defended. "Besides, only your mother and I know each other's real ages and we swore not to tell a soul. That's what love is."  
  
He didn't say a word when her laughter abruptly turned into sobs.  
  
He gave her a break.  
  
And he held her until she re-charged.

* * *


	10. Chapter Ten

"Ten Days Wonder" - Ten. _This is the final chapter and I have to issue a cavity warning. I knew no other way to go than to take the road of Ultimate Floof...not to mention employing some Deus Rex Machina._

* * *

Spending a day as the guest of Llantano County wasn't his idea of big fun. Neither was getting released and realizing that it was, somehow, the tenth day. The Big Ten. A number that had absolutely nothing to do with Michigan football.

His loan payments were due. As much as Evangeline Williamson was a whiz of a lawyer, RJ wasn't about to let him off on this. Not even if Evangeline wielded her girlfriendly wiles. This was it. Zero hour.

And losing his club and his dreams of a restaurant were the last things on Rex's mind. Instead, he couldn't stop thinking about...about her. He got accused, constantly, of not being over Jen and he could testify to the fact that he was definitely past his ex-wife now. Because every time he took a breath, it was Adriana. Every time he blinked, it was Adriana.

Everywhere he turned, it was Adriana.

There was something wrong with him.

As he'd scrubbed away the feel of scratchy coveralls and phantom prison grime, he'd even pictured her with him there...in the shower...which made him only scrub harder, exfoliating two layers of skin.

Very. Very. Wrong.

And now here he was, doing the books, knowing this was probably the last time he'd ever check the liquor inventory--because there was no way he was sticking around to be RJ's general manager--and the only thing he could think about was across town in her fancy mansion probably cursing his name.

"Rex..."

Great. He was hallucinating her again. "Well, they say prison changes a man," he reminded himself, lightly, looking up and expecting to see empty space. Only...it wasn't empty. It was full of her. The real her...her chin-length hair all black and silky, her jeans riding low and her t-shirt cut high. She looked different. Older.

It had barely been two days. How was that even possible?

Him. It was his fault. He'd added those years to her. And that cynicism he'd seen in lock-up. 

She watched his fingers clench around the pen, his face growing pale, and he almost seemed to sway on the bar stool. She wanted to reach out and steady him... no, she wanted to reach out and do more than that...so she clenched her fists, too, digging them into her thighs. "I let myself in," she murmured, calmly.

She'd shed all her tears, David rubbing her back until she was limp and exhausted. He'd felt so sorry for her that he'd just marched straight into the kitchen for a tub of Rocky Road instead of resuming the lecture. Overdosed on marshmallows and nuts, they'd sat together and talked about nothing and everything.

And she'd come to a decision.

Several, actually.

"Figures," Rex mumbled, finally finding the strength to stop acting like Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel. "I fired the door guys. Of course, RJ could just re-hire them."

"Actually, I'll re-hire them." Adriana said the words with a surprising amount of confidence. Not even channeling Dorian. Simply being herself. She had never known her capacity for strength until Rex had shown it to her.

"What?" His jaw dropped again. He couldn't have heard her right...

"Ultra-Violet...it's mine," she informed, just the barest hint of a tremor in her voice, the urge to touch Rex making her fingers itch. "So is the new property. David helped me make the arrangements this morning and RJ was all too happy to accept the payment."

"Y-you...you paid off RJ? You own my club?" Rex rubbed his temple. This could not be happening. He was still having some sort of delusional episode.

"Well, technically, David owns it. He co-signed on the contracts since I'm not of age," she admitted, sheepishly. It had given David a perverse thrill, actually, to take over Rex's properties. He saw it as fitting punishment for someone trying to play games with her. _"You're lucky I didn't take a page out of Todd Manning's book and have him sent to a Turkish prison."_ Thankfully, he'd given her his word that any and all handling of Rex was her department, that he was only around to serve as her advisor. _"And your dad, of course."_

So, she was going to handle Rex.

Which brought her to decision two.

"I...I don't know anything about running a restaurant and neither does David, really, so...so, I'd actually like you to stay on." She rubbed her palms down her jeans, and then shoved her traitorous hands into her pockets. She could get through this. She had to. "RJ...RJ said you'd rather live on food stamps than work for him...is that...is that true for me, too?"

He glanced down at the ledgers by his elbow. The liquor inventory. They were running out of Blue Curacao. Who the Hell drank Blue Curacao? Whoever they were, the next time he saw a frou-frou blue girly drink, they were out.

It was a simple thought that told him he'd all ready made his choice. Probably halfway through her offer. Maybe even before that.

Hell. He'd been a sucker for her since day one.

"I'll stay." He slid off the stool. "Thank you," he whispered, with manners Roxy never taught him, trying to be the man Adriana thought he was. "Thanks for giving me my place back even though I totally don't deserve it."

"That's just it...you do." She met him half-way...and then all the way, finally allowing herself to hug him. He held himself back for only a moment...and then he was slipping his arms around her. "Rex...you thought you had nothing to learn from me. But you're wrong."

"Third thing?" he asked, quietly, lips brushing her hair, hands finding and clinging to the curves of her hips.

"Third thing," she confirmed.

"You know...I think I'm starting to get the hang of it." He laughed, shakily, leaning his forehead against hers. "And I have no idea how I'm going to wait two years to see it through." After all, there was nothing quite like actually going ahead and committing the crime you were accused of, right?

Adriana giggled. "River didn't do his Internet research. Pennsylvania's age of consent is sixteen. They wouldn't have had a case." She stretched up on her toes, her mouth just a millimeter from his. "You don't have to wait."

"You'd be worth it," he said, raggedly, wondering just how long he could hold out.

"I know." Her smile deepened, reached all the way to her eyes and beyond.

Yeah. He was a goner.

"Antonio's not gonna bust in and hit me again, is he?"

"He might."

"I guess I'll take the risk."

"Te amo," she whispered. "It means 'I love you.'"

"I know." And the admission was as soft as the way he kissed her. "Thanks for teaching me."

"Thanks for learning." She pressed her palm to his cheek, kissing him back so fiercely that it stole what sense he had left.

And replaced it.

With wonder.

--end--

_June 15, 2004. _


End file.
